Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK) has been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.1111.

Several analysts have commented on CRK shares. Williams Trading set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Comstock Resources in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Comstock Resources from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Comstock Resources in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Comstock Resources in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Comstock Resources from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th.

Comstock Resources Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of Comstock Resources stock opened at $13.27 on Tuesday. Comstock Resources has a 1 year low of $12.44 and a 1 year high of $28.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $587.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $554.01 million. Comstock Resources had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 27.18%.Comstock Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Comstock Resources will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRK. LSP Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Comstock Resources by 33.9% during the third quarter. LSP Investment Advisors LLC now owns 378,900 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,514,000 after purchasing an additional 95,900 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Comstock Resources by 1,200.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 331,937 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,694,000 after purchasing an additional 306,410 shares in the last quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. raised its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 163.7% in the fourth quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 152,100 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,526,000 after purchasing an additional 94,418 shares during the period. Rahlfs Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comstock Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,144,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Comstock Resources by 31.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 177,326 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,516,000 after purchasing an additional 42,416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.13% of the company’s stock.

Comstock Resources Company Profile

Comstock Resources, Inc is an independent energy company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. The company focuses on generating long-term value through the efficient development of unconventional resource plays and conventional prospects. Its activities encompass drilling, completion and production operations, as well as the marketing of natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil.

Comstock holds a core position in the Haynesville Shale of Northwest Louisiana, one of the most active natural gas plays in North America, and has built a complementary portfolio in the Delaware Basin of West Texas.